Miriam old gal, oh Queen of the Links, you are a complete hoot. See what I mean about the gorgeous clothes?

I hope you all realise that if you put an electric machine in front of me I would run away screaming. I've never used one and am quite happy in my own technological time warp.

I feel for you all when I see some of the prices for machines in America. My cheapest Ebay find was the Frister and Rossmann (on the seam guide video) for 99p. The most I have ever paid was £45 (it was my birthday) and my most beautiful machine (not on Youtube yet) was £20 plus £12 postage. It was too far away to collect and I made sure the sellers knew how to pack it. Thank God it arrived undamaged!

I'm so glad you enjoy the videos. Putting them on Youtube has been great fun, and we've kept an eye on viewing figures and the number of countries they have been viewed in. It's turned into a quest for world domination - over 120 countries so far, and still counting. It makes me wonder how many people who watch don't understand a word of English and just watch the action.

Maybe they are trying to learn English? Love that link to the clothes - I should watch it over again. You are right her accent.... did you go on a utube trip? I loved looking at the hair videos. Mom used to put our hair up in pincurls when we were asleep on Saturday nights after our weekly baths. Sometimes we got some pretty cool waves.

Electric machines aren't so bad - the computer machines are what scare me. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK. My BFF just inherited her momma's Viking computerized machine - it probably has all kinds of bells and whistles. Her momma maybe sewed one fancy embroidery quilt on it... Anyway my friend wanted me to look at the machine. So I did. I showed her that her Singer 403 did a lot of the same stuff other than embroidery. Then I figure I have another friend charges $1 per inch so I would happily pay that if I don't have to fool with the embroidery at all. The worst of it is my BFF's mom's BFF bought one just like it. Wouldn't you think if they were BFF they could SHARE? She also inherited a serger and we looked at it and shook our heads. 5 threads. I would be afraid to set it near a window when I was sewing with that.... it might get pitched out.

NEVER let a sewing machine know you are in a hurry.
good mothers let you lick the beaters - great mothers turn it off first

I didn't get my hair put up in pin curls when I was little. I got rags instead that resulted long blond sausage curls. I hated those curls. I have never been a frilly, girly girl. Oh yes, I remember the weekly bath in a galvanized tub in front of the fireplace. Not so good old days.

Did you have ring around the bath tub??? I wasn't much into curls either - what I hated was when my mom got the bright idea of doing a perm. She put wires on my head and all. Pretty grizzly stuff - it looked ok for a day or so then it just stuck out all over. I doubt if I've had one since.

NEVER let a sewing machine know you are in a hurry.
good mothers let you lick the beaters - great mothers turn it off first

I don't remember the ring around the tub but I am sure that after 4 kids bathing in it there was a some kind of ring. Oh yeah, I forgot that mother would gather the kitchen chair around the tub and drape blankets on them to help keep the heat localized around the galvanized tub. She had to heat the water on the stove for hot water. We did not have running water or indoor plumbing at that time. The water was hand drawn from a well so water was not wasted. Oh the not so good old days. Us kids did not know we were dirt poor. We ran around barefoot most of the year and had one pair of shoes a year for school and a couple of dresses.

I am so happy in the middle. I would run away screaming from a treadle...just seems like too much work....too scared of hand crank. Worried more about accidental vaccinations than breaking the machine. Computerized machines scare me just as much. Give me a plain electric machine that goes forward and back and I'm a happy girl. I don't use a zig zag stitch often enough to worry about a zigzagging attachment. I just get my little janome out and zigzag with her. She's my first purchase and I simply can't part with her, even if she is so young compared to my others. I am thrilled with all the videos though.

Proud mom/step-mom to 8 children. We promote awareness of Autism and Huntington's Disease. Please pm me if interested in sending Campbell's Soup Labels or box tops which we collect for our kids' schools.

We had indoor plumbing but I remember one of my friends had 8 kids in their family and a out house... tub in the kitchen, bucket of water on the table with one dipper for all.... One summer their dad and uncles built a room addition. This was totally cool. It had a door from the out side with a sink and a hose with a floor drain just inside the door, 2 potty stalls for privacy, a shower, a tub, 2 more sinks and an awesome big mirror - oh and it had a door from inside the house too.

NEVER let a sewing machine know you are in a hurry.
good mothers let you lick the beaters - great mothers turn it off first